1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lever fitting-type power supply circuit breaker which fits one of connector housings to the other connector housing and releases such fitting on the contrary by operating a lever with low operating force by utilizing a cam mechanism.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an electric vehicle, a capacity of a power supply which is a battery is larger as compared with that of a battery of a usual gasoline engine vehicle and the like. Accordingly, in such a case of maintaining an electrical system and the like of the electric vehicle, a power supply circuit is opened by a circuit breaker, and safety during work is ensured. As such a type of the conventional lever fitting-type power supply circuit breaker, there is one shown in FIGS. 1A to 13 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-343169).
As shown in FIGS. 10 to 13, this lever fitting-type power supply circuit breaker 100 includes one connector housing 101, a lever 102 attached to the one connector housing 101, and the other connector housing 103 to which the one connector housing 101 is attached by an operation of the lever 102.
As shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 4 to 6B, the one connector housing 101 includes a housing body 104, and a cover 105 attached to the housing body 104 so as to close an upper portion of the housing body 104. A terminal hood portion 108 is provided under the housing body 104, and a pair of male terminals 109 and 109 (shown in FIGS. 5 and 6B) are provided in the terminal hood portion 108 in a state of being protruded downward. The pair of male terminals 109 and 109 are electrically connected to each other through a fuse 110 (shown in FIG. 6A) housed in the housing body 104.
A pair of guide pins 111 and 111 are protruded from outer walls of the housing body 104, and guide grooves 120 of the lever 102, which are described later, are individually engaged with the guide pins 111 and 111.
A pair of lever-path adjusting guide grooves 115 and 115 are provided on the outer walls of the housing body 104. One of step side faces (denoted by reference numeral 115a) forming the respective lever-path adjusting guide grooves 115 and 115 is formed of a vertical step side face extended in a vertical direction, a horizontal step side face extended in a horizontal direction, and a circular arc step side face connecting these side faces in a circular arc shape. Then, with the pair of lever-path adjusting guide grooves 115 and 115, a pair of lever-path adjusting guide pins 124 and 124 of the other connector housing 103, which are described later, are engaged. Each of the pair of lever-path adjusting guide pins 124 and 124 is slid along the step side face 115a of each lever-path adjusting guide groove 115.
As shown in FIGS. 2 to 6B, the lever 102 includes a pair of arm plate portions 118a and 118b arranged in parallel at an interval, and an operating portion 119 coupling the pair of arm plate portions 118a and 118b to each other. In the pair of arm plate portions 118a and 118b, the guide grooves 120 extended in the horizontal direction are provided at positions symmetric to each other. Into the respective guide grooves 120, the pair of guide pins 111 and 111 of the one connector housing 101 are individually inserted.
In the pair of arm plate portions 118a and 118b, cam grooves 121 are provided at positions symmetric to each other. Into the pair of cam grooves 121 and 121, cam pins 136 of the other connector housing 103, which are described later, are inserted. Moreover, the lever-path adjusting guide pins 124 are individually provided on inner walls of the pair of arm plate portions 118a and 118b. The pair of lever-path adjusting guide pins 124 and 124 are engaged with the pair of lever-path adjusting guide grooves 115 and 115 of the one connector housing 101.
Moreover, one of the pair of arm plate portions 118a and 118b is provided to be wider in width as compared with the other one. Specifically, the arm plate portion 118b is made wider. In the arm plate portion 118b wider in width, a connector portion 125 (shown in FIGS. 3A and 6B) is provided. In the connector portion 125, a fitting sensing male terminal 126 is provided.
As shown in FIGS. 7, 8A, 8B and the like, the other connector housing 103 has a substantially rectangular shape in which an upper surface is opened, and an inner space thereof serves as an attachment space 130 of the one connector housing 101. On a bottom surface portion 131 becoming a lower surface of the attachment space 130, terminal hood/housing portions 134 are integrally provided in a state of being protruded in the vertical direction. In the terminal hood/housing portions 134, female terminals 135 (shown in FIGS. 7, 8A and 8B) are individually housed. To the respective female terminals 135, one end sides of lead wires 139a are connected. One of the lead wires 139a and the other thereof are guided to a load unit 140 side of a power supply circuit B and a power supply unit 141 side of the power supply circuit B, respectively. Specifically, a power switch SW1 (shown in FIG. 9) of the power supply circuit B is composed of the male terminals 109 and female terminals 135 of both of the connector housings 101 and 103.
Moreover, from the symmetric positions of inner peripheral walls of the other connector housing 103, the pair of cam pins 136 and 136 are protruded. As described above, the pair of cam pins 136 and 136 are inserted into the cam grooves 121 of the lever 102 when the one connector housing 101 is attached to the other connector housing 103. Moreover, in the attachment space 130 of the other connector housing 103, a connector portion 137 is provided. In the connector portion 137, a pair of fitting sensing female terminals 138 and 138 are arranged. A fitting sensing switch SW2 (shown in FIG. 9) is composed of the pair of fitting sensing female terminals 138 and 138 and the fitting sensing male terminal 126 of the lever 102. The fitting sensing switch SW2 is turned ON in a manner that the male terminal 126 of the lever 2 is brought into contact with the pair of fitting sensing female terminals 138 and 138, and turned OFF in a non-contact state of the male terminal 126 of the lever 102. To the pair of female terminals 138 and 138, lead wires 139b are individually connected, and both of the lead wires 139b are guided to a relay circuit 142 of the power supply circuit B.
Next, the power supply circuit B is described. As shown in FIG. 9, the power supply circuit B includes the load unit 140, and the power supply unit 141 which supplies electric power to the load unit 140. To the load unit 140 and the power supply unit 141, the power switch SW1, which is formed of the terminals 109 and 135 of both of the connector housings 101 and 103, and the relay circuit 142, are connected in series. The relay circuit 142 is an electric circuit which is turned ON when the fitting sensing switch SW2 is ON and turned OFF when the fitting sensing switch SW2 is OFF. The power switch SW1 formed of the terminals 109 and 135 of both of the connector housings 101 and 103 is a mechanical switch as described above.
Next, an operation of the lever fitting-type power supply circuit breaker 100 is described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 13. FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a state before the one connector housing 101 is temporarily fitted to the other connector housing 103. FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a state where the one connector housing 101 is set at a temporal connector-fitting position of the other connector housing 103. FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a state where the lever 102 is located at a rotation completing position in a process where the one connector housing 101 is fitted to the other connector housing 103. FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a state where the fitting of the one connector housing 101 to the other connector housing 103 is completed.
First, an operation of bringing the power supply circuit B into a conductive state by the lever fitting-type power supply circuit breaker 100 is described. As shown in FIG. 10, the lever 102 is set at an operation start position, and the one connector housing 101 is inserted into the attachment space 103 from above the other connector housing 103. Then, as shown in FIG. 11, the terminal hood portion 108 of the one connector housing 101 is inserted into the terminal hood/housing portion 134 of the other connector housing 103 while being fitted thereto. Moreover, the pair of cam pins 136 and 136 of the other connector housing 103 are inserted into the pair of cam grooves 121 and 121 of the lever 102. Then, the pair of cam pins 136 and 136 enter the pair of cam grooves 121 and 121, and the one connector housing 101 and the other connector housing 103 are set at the temporal connector-fitting position.
Next, the lever 102 is rotated in a direction of an arrow A1 of FIG. 11. Then, the lever 102 is rotated about the pair of guide pins 111 and 111 from the operation start position of FIG. 11 to a rotation completion position of FIG. 12. By this rotation of the lever 102, the one connector housing 101 gradually approaches and enters the inside of the other connector housing 103. Then, the terminals 109 and 135 of both of the connector housings 101 and 103 are brought into contact with each other before the lever 102 is located at the rotation completion position, and at the rotation completion position of the lever 102, both of the connector housings 101 and 103 reach the connector-fitting position.
Next, when the lever 102 is slid in a direction of an arrow B1 of FIG. 12, the pair of guide pins 111 and 111 are slid in the pair of guide grooves 120 and 120 of the lever 102. In addition, the pair of cam pins 136 and 136 of the other connector housing 103 are slid in the pair of cam grooves 121 and 121 of the lever 102, and are located at a fitting completion position of FIG. 13. In this sliding process, the fitting sensing male terminal 126 of the lever 102 is brought into contact with the fitting sensing female terminals 138 and 138. Then, when the fitting sensing switch SW2 is turned ON, the relay circuit 142 is turned ON, and thus the power supply circuit B is brought into the conductive state for the first time.
Next, an operation of bringing the power supply circuit B in the conductive state into a non-conductive state (break of the power supply) by the lever fitting-type power supply circuit breaker 100 is described. In the state of FIG. 13, when the lever 102 located at the operation completion position is slid in a direction of an arrow B2 of FIG. 13, the pair of guide pins 111 and 111 are slid in the pair of guide grooves 120 and 120 of the lever 102, and the pair of cam pins 136 and 136 of the other connector housing 103 are slid in the pair of cam grooves 121 and 121 of the lever 102. Thus, the lever 102 is slid to the rotation completion position of FIG. 12. Before the lever 102 is located at the rotation completion position, the fitting sensing male terminal 126 of the lever 102 is separated from the pair of fitting sensing female terminals 138 and 138 of the other connector housing 103, and is brought into the non-contact state therewith. Then, when the fitting sensing switch SW2 is turned OFF, the relay circuit 142 is turned OFF, and at this point of time, the power supply circuit B has already been brought into the non-conductive state.
Next, when the lever 102 is rotated in a direction of an arrow A2 of FIG. 12, the lever 102 is rotated about the pair of guide pins 111 and 111 of the lever 102 to the operation start position of FIG. 11. Moreover, the pair of cam pins 136 and 136 of the other connector housing 103 are moved in the pair of cam grooves 121 and 121 of the lever 102, and thus the one connector housing 101 is gradually moved upward so as to be separated from the other connector housing 103, and is drawn therefrom. Then, before the lever 102 is located at the operation start position, the terminals 109 and 135 of both of the connector housings 101 and 103 are brought into the non-contact state with each other, and at the operation start position of the lever 102, both of the connector housings 101 and 103 are located at the temporal connector-fitting position.
As described above, in the lever fitting-type power supply circuit breaker 100, in the process of rotationally moving the lever 102 from the operation start position to the rotation completion position, the terminals 109 and 135 of both of the connector housings 101 and 103 are brought into the contact state with each other, and the power switch SW1 is tuned ON, but the power supply circuit B is still non-conductive. In the process of sliding (linearly moving) the lever 102 from the rotation completion position to the operation completion position, the fitting sensing switch SW2 is turned ON, and thus the relay circuit 142 is turned ON, and the power supply circuit B is brought into the conductive state for the first time. Therefore, the power supply circuit B can be prevented from being brought into the conductive state halfway through the operation of the lever 102. Hence, recognition that the power supply circuit B is still non-conductive because the operation of the lever 102 is not completed yet becomes reasonable, thus making it possible to prevent an occurrence of an accident. Moreover, when the power supply circuit B is switched from the conductive state to the non-conductive state, in the process of linearly moving the lever 102 from the operation completion position to the rotation completion position, the fitting sensing switch SW2 is turned OFF, and thus the relay circuit 142 is turned OFF, and the power supply circuit B is brought into the non-conductive state. In the process of rotationally moving the lever 102 from the rotation completion position to the operation start position, the power switch SW1 between both of the terminals 109 and 135 is brought into a separated state. Thus, there is a time lag from the time when the power supply circuit B is turned OFF to the time when the power switch SW1 between the terminals 109 and 135 is separated, and a discharge time is ensured. Therefore, an arc discharge can be prevented.
However, in the above-described conventional lever fitting-type power supply circuit breaker 100, the fitting sensing switch SW2 is formed into a so-called male-female terminal structure made of the fitting sensing male terminal 126 and the pair of fitting sensing female terminals 138 and 138, and is arranged in the connector portions 125 and 137, and accordingly, a large installation space is required. Therefore, there are problems that a width dimension W1 of the lever 102 and a width dimension of W2 of the other connector housing 103 are increased, and that the lever fitting-type power supply circuit breaker 100 becomes large.